Extra time

[UltimateLuxury]

This isn’t meant to be provocative but…

my daughter is sitting GCSEs at the moment and told me last night that 43 kids of 120 are getting extra time

This seems really high to me. The school, although fee paying, is very academically strong and doesn’t have large SEN numbers.

To be clear, my point is not that my daughter isn’t getting this extra time. However, it feels that maybe the pendulum has perhaps swung to the point that those that really do need the additional time may be being disadvantaged by those with softer requirements?

How is the decision made? Would be interested in views.

I am invigilating in the exams up here in Scotland and I quite often work with kids who have extra time. There are so many reasons why children get extra time and it is not my place to ask why they get 25% or 50% more time than the children sitting the exam in the hall.

Alternative arrangements though don't just mean extra time. I was with a student last week who had broken his leg and needed to get up and hobble around every 30 minutes to keep mobile. He didn't get any extra time - but the clock stopped when he started hobbling around and started again when he picked up his pen. Other children are allowed to take a break away from the exam room so we stop the clock, go for a walk outside for 10 minutes if it's nice, then start again. No extra time - but it takes them longer overall to complete the exam because of the breaks. Others get extra time because they work with a scribe, a reader, or both.

Are you an English teacher?

A thought experiment: I am a very average netball player as I move too slowly round the court. My other skills are excellent (throwing, catching etc) but my speed slows me down reducing my overall abilities to average or below. If I was doing PE GCSE, would all sorts of special allowances be made for me in order to pass at a higher level along with my more physically talented and quicker friends? Or alternatively, do we accept that some people move faster than others, and, that those people are therefore fundamentally better at sport / working at a higher level?

Also - in Scotland at least - the kids don't need to use the extra time if they don't want it. I always tell a child when they are into their extra time and how many more minutes they have. Many don't use the extra time, and not every child with an agreement to take a break uses that either. But it's there if they need it.

So, it’s simultaneously completely necessary but ‘many don’t use it’…. 🤔

A teen I know in a not hugely academic but small / mollycoddling private school already gets rest breaks and now school is applying for extra time for them also. No learning difficulty or neurodivergence - just “stress” in their own words. Got a private therapist to write in support. Like anyone doesn’t find exams stressful?! having worked in the state sector I’m sure they wouldn’t do this in a state school…

A "normal amount" of extra time is 10%. Bob gets it because he's dyslexic and it takes him a while to read the materials. Those extra 9 minutes in his literature paper help him to achieve what he can do in class when I read them to him.

I also teach a kid who gets rest breaks. She's hyper mobile and pain is a problem. That's not mollycoddling.

No, it's there if they need it. If they are prone to feeling overwhelmed, they have the safety net of knowing they can stop the clock and leave the room. That knowledge may be enough.

Have you never seen extra-time abused though? I have worked in both the state and private sectors and have never known a student whose parents have paid for private assessment to come back empty handed. Not once. Regardless of the ability of the child. I realise not everyone has the means to do this, but believe you me, some of those who can most certainly will. It’s a massive problem and I hope the exam boards tackle it.

Definitely not an English teacher!!

Part of PE is possibly reaction times as that is pretty key to many sports. Though not eg high jump, shotputt etc.

But every GCSE is not meant to be a processing speed test.

What you also have to realise is many kids who get extra time are already disadvantaged in their revision. Slow processing doesn't only impact exams, it impacts learning, writing revision cards, even self testing. So even with extra time in the exam they have had to put in more effort than a similar ability faster processor.

Extra time slightly redresses the disadvantages, it doesn't wipe them away.

Your dd may not know who gets extra time and who doesn't but has other access arrangements. That's because DC who have rest breaks can look as if they have extra time when they don't. DD had a spinal fracture when she took her A levels and got rest breaks to manage pain etc and to walk around. DD1 had a wrist injury and had similar accomodations - both therefore ended up finishing some time after most of the rest of the cohort so it might have looked as if they had extra time but it was just a stop the clock.

I work in a state school. We don't use private diagnoses and the vast majority of our parents don't have the means anyway

I think you are confusing extra-time with rest breaks here. Extra-time does alone does not mean you can leave the room. At all. Extra time should be evidenced and only given if used as a normal way of working. The fact that you state that ‘many’ students you supervise are not using it is a problem. Extra-time is not a ‘safety net’ or a back-up option in reserve.

No I'm well aware of that.

But the OP is a bit vague too - she seems to think all alternative arrangements mean extra time.

There are different amounts of extra time depending on need. Dd is dyslexic and gets extra time, her friend gets extra, extra times It’s all relative, there will be a huge mundane of reasons.

I'm a teacher and it really isn't that rigorous. I'm not saying your evidence wasn't but in general it just needs to be shown as the normal way of working and they can compare it to an non extra time piece. There are definitely kids that need extra time to level the playing field but the system seems totally nuts at the moment without any really stringent guidance for who can't and can have it

Well, having worked in both sectors it’s a huge issue in the private sphere and actually touches issues of fundamental fairness and equity as a result. As I said before, I have never seen a child, regardless of ability, not get what their parents have paid for.

I currently work in the state sector and those who pay are likewise usually awarded by the school, with many schools terrified of claims of discrimination and ableism if a private diagnosis is not accepted. Does your school not accept private diagnosis?

I’m an exam invigilator and all learners in my room have access arrangements. Some learners only use their extra time in certain subjects. Some have extra time but make no attempt at the paper. I spoke to one student during the mocks and he said he couldn’t do anything on the paper and wasn’t good at anything..😞

I do feel that the current system is giving more advantage to private school pupils (can pay for private diagnosis, parents who know how to navigate the system), than students who have less money and perhaps parents with less knowledge of how to jump the hoops. There might be a fairer way to do it. Not sure what that would look like. But the stats currently do seem to suggest that private schools are accessing more access arrangements. Is this in proportion to need?

Would agree with @ShanghaiDiva about the other reason why kids don't use the time. Last year I worked with a student who had a reader and a scribe. He had 25% extra time because obviously having your paper read to you and having to dictate the answers takes longer. In his exam he had three essay style questions to write. He declared he knew "nothing" about the first two topics, dictated three sentences on the third then said he was done.

Invigilators/scribes are not allowed to cajole or encourage so he didn't even use his standard time, never mind the extra time.

Rest breaks can be determined by the school. Extra time needs to be applied for, and evidence of need is required. Despite a diagnosis, and extra time being a normal way of working, school still needed to complete a writing speed assessment.

Most do use it but some, the ones that have no more to say, don't use it. They just want to get out when the others go.

I think for my Dd it was quite rigorous as there was no evidence of normal way of working. She was perfectly healthy for GCSE’s (no access arrangements) and then ill and admitted to hospital end of December before her May/June a level exams. She went to school on a part time basis from January to the start of exams. The school applied for extra time in the March, consequently quite short notice and the only evidence available was from her consultant and the mock grades. It was pretty strict and felt a little unfair that she did not receive extra time for all subjects. She is now in her second year at university and has extra time for all exams under her disability access plan.

Then surely they should only have extra time in subjects where there is an evidenced need? Clearly giving the struggling student extra-time did absolutely nothing. However, plenty of others parents cotton on and push for extra time for their own children and we end up with a system that is not fit for purpose. It really should be for cases of extreme need as it can confer a huge advantage.

But GCSEs (or Nat 5s in Scotland) are not a competition. Some other child having 25% extra time, or agreed supervised breaks and getting a B does not make your child's grade B any less.